Starship's name change sends parents and doctors into orbit

By MARTIN JOHNSTON
The renaming of the Starship children's hospital has drawn angry responses from doctors and the parents of sick children.

Signs will go up within months renaming it Auckland City Hospital Children's Services.

Bob Shaw, of Opotiki, said yesterday said the name was an unnecessary mouthful.

He was about to visit his daughter, Opal, 8, who has just come out of a coma after being knocked over by a horse three weeks ago.

"The whole country knows this place as Starship," Mr Shaw said. .

"It would be a shame to lose its identity as Starship children's hospital.

It would be harder to raise money for the hospital, although its associated charity fundraiser, Starship Foundation, will retain its name.

"The hand is not going to go into the pocket as deep."

When the name Starship was adopted in 1992, several months after the new hospital opened, it was intended to appeal to children, reflecting the building's design in the hope that children would think it an interesting place to go.

Auckland District Health Board chairman Wayne Brown said this week he did not want children attracted to hospital.

A new name was needed because the board was creating a single entity at Grafton - the new Auckland City Hospital - which would have children's, women's and other services.

Also, public hospitals were not commercial products, so ought not to have brands..

"There's nothing special about the children's hospital," he said - a comment that has riled the hospital's staff.

"We believe it's special," said Starship clinical leader Dr Scott Macfarlane.

"The children believe it's special and continue to indicate that by the huge public support we get whenever there's anything focussed on Starship funding, Starship Christmas activities."

The foundation says the name-change destroys the goodwill of a valuable brand built up over 10 years and which now generates more than $3.5 million a year.

Foundation chairman Bryan Mogridge said his organisation's trustees had not been consulted on the re-naming.

He would approach the health board to try to have it overturned..

Another set of parents who object to the renaming are Beachlands couple Dayarna Brown and Paul Cleminson.

Their 16-month-old son Kristian he has been in and out of Starship since he was born with a condition that led to the removal of a large part of his intestines.

"The kids that are here have got to be happy to improve," said Mr Cleminson.

Miss Brown said most had "really horrible things done to them. They need it to be exciting for them when they come in sick." The name helped fulfil this.

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A Starship doctor, who sought anonymity, said staff strongly opposed the new name.

"It changes the nature of Starship from being a New Zealand children's hospital to an Auckland children's hospital. It definitely downgrades it.".

Dr Macfarlane said this was part of a policy of "homogenising", with repainting the outside off-white to replace its trademark pastel pink and blue, and integrating the management of Starship's radiology, anaesthetic and operating theatre services with the adults' division.

This was against international trends in children's hospitals.